Page 61 - The Love Hypothesis

It was a little over a month from now. But also . . . “That’s a weirdly

specific date.” Olive racked her head, trying to figure out why it could be
meaningful. The only thing that came to mind was that she’d be in Boston
that week for the annual biology conference.

“It’s the day after the department’s final budget review. If they don’t
release my funds by then, they won’t release them at all.”

“I see. Well, then, let’s agree that on September twenty-ninth we part
ways. I’ll tell Anh that our breakup was amicable but that I’m a little sad

about it because I still have a bit of a crush on you.” She grinned at him.
“Just so she won’t suspect that I’m still hung up on Jeremy. Okay.” She

took a deep breath. “Fifth and last.”
This was the tricky one. The one she was afraid he’d object to. She
noticed that she was wringing her hands and placed them firmly in her lap.

“For this to work we should probably . . . do things together. Every once
in a while.”

“Things?”
“Things. Stuff.”

“Stuff,” he repeated dubiously.
“Yep. Stuff. What do you do for fun?” He was probably into something

atrocious, like cow-tipping excursions or Japanese beetle fighting. Maybe
he collected porcelain dolls. Maybe he was an avid geocacher. Maybe he
frequented vaping conventions. Oh God.

“Fun?” he repeated, like he’d never heard the word before.
“Yeah. What do you do when you’re not at work?”

The length of time that passed between Olive’s question and his answer
was alarming. “Sometimes I work at home, too. And I work out. And I

sleep.”
She had to actively stop herself from face-palming. “Um, great.

Anything else?”
“What do you do for fun?” he asked, somewhat defensively.
“Plenty of things. I . . .” Go to the movies. Though she hadn’t been since

the last time Malcolm had dragged her. Play board games. But every single